Which Goals Are Available in Google Analytics 4?

If you want valuable insights into user behavior on your website, there is one ultimate source: Google Analytics. It’s well-known as a powerful tool for optimizing online performance and giving businesses like yours the ability to understand your target audience, their intentions, and their pain points. Recently, we’ve been delighted with the latest version GA4, taking us into the future of analytics with event-based data.₁

Primary goals in Google Analytics revolve around measuring and improving the effectiveness of your website. Just like you set goals to track business objectives and outcomes, Google Analytics allows you to set goals on what you want to achieve with your website. By defining and monitoring these goals, you’re able to assess your online activities, identify areas of improvement, and create strategies to enhance user experience.

In this blog post, we’ll be outlining the types of goals available in Google Analytics, how to set them up, and why you should consider using a specialized agency for your B2B marketing analytics.

Google Analytics Goal Types and What They Are

There are four main types of goals in Google Analytics: Destination Goals, Duration Goals, Pages/Screens per Session Goals, and Event Goals.

Destination Goals

Think about exactly where it is that you want your website user to go. What page or URL do you want them to end up on, ultimately? That’s the destination you’re measuring with a Destination Goal - it’s an indicator of a successful user interaction on your website. Usually, these pages or URLs are confirmation pages after submitting a form or a thank-you page after completing a purchase.

To identify your Destination Goals, you choose the URL that signifies a successful conversion and set it up in your goals (we’ll help you set up your goals later in this post). If you want to make the most of Destination Goals, they need to be part of a broader strategy and part of an intentional campaign to get users to a desired result.

Duration Goals

Duration Goals focus on time rather than destination. They look at how long someone engages with your content rather than what page they land on or what specific actions they take. Basically, a Duration Goal will look at how long a user spends on your website before leaving or closing the browser.

This type of goal is great for telling whether people are attracted to the content on your site and what you have to say. If you want people reading and taking in information while on your site, this is a type of goal you should definitely be tracking. For example, if you have a blog or provide useful information, this is a helpful metric to have access to when determining whether or not your content is performing well.

Pages/Screens per Session Goals

This one is a little more complicated than the previous two goal types in that it measures overall user engagement by the average number of pages or screens that a person views during a single session. It gives you a more in-depth look into user activity and allows you to see whether people are actually interacting with your website or are only drawn to one or two pages.

If your main goal is to increase user engagement and content consumption, this goal type is a great way to measure success. It gives you real-time insights into the effectiveness of your site layout, the overall user experience, and navigation.

Event Goals

While Destination Goals track pages and URLs and Duration Goals track time on a website, Event Goals look at specific user interactions on a site (or app). Specifically, it focuses on user interactions that are significant for reaching specific business goals, like clicking on a “sign up” or “request a demo” button.

These types of goals offer a deeper insight into user engagement than traditional page views and allow businesses to track which actions their target audience is taking while on their site. This gives you the ability to build a more robust digital marketing strategy, capitalizing on what works and removing what doesn’t.₂

Setting Up Goals in Google Analytics

To create a new goal in Google Analytics, simply login to your account, go to Admin and click on View. In the View column, select Goals and either create a new goal or import it from your gallery. You have the option of using a template, creating custom goals, or building smart goals.

Consider Using a Specialist Agency For Your B2B Marketing Analytics

Your clients trust you because you’re a specialist in what you do. And our clients trust us because we’re the foremost experts in what we do. B2B marketing analytics is our world, and we make it our business to know the ins and outs. If you don’t have the time or expertise to handle your own digital marketing, get in touch, and we’ll talk you through what we do and how we do it.